The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is barring ex-JPMorgan Chase Securities, LLC (JPM) brokers Jimmy E. Caballero and Fernando L. Arevalo from the securities industry for allegedly stealing $300,000 from an elderly widow who suffers from diminished mental capacity. Although the bank reportedly was not involved in the misconduct, it has given the money that the two men had converted back to the senior investor

According to the SRO, in 2013 the elderly woman deposited about $300,000 in proceeds from two annuity sales into a bank account Arevalo had set up for her. The funds were then taken out of the account with the use of two cashier’s checks and Caballero purportedly placed the funds into a joint account that was under her name and his name at another bank. That institution asked for clarification and confirmation and Arevalo took the woman to the bank to confirm where the funds had come from. The money was then taken out of that account through checks issued to Arevalo and Caballero. Arevalo is also accused of using the account’s debit card to pay for retail purchase and loans for a car and real estate. The elderly widow had no idea these transactions were being made.

The SRO says the two men did not completely cooperate with its investigation. Without deny or admitting to the FINRA charges, Arevalo and Caballero are settling and consenting to the entry of findings.

It was in February 2013 that FINRA initiated a high-risk brokers program to take action against rogue stockbrokers. The SRO has since barred at least 16 brokers from the securities industry.

Researchers say that the reason senior citizens may be more vulnerable to financial exploitation could be neurological. Dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and early Alzheimer’s can make it easier for a fraudster to take advantage of an elderly investor. One in five American seniors report to having suffered from or been targeted for financial exploitation by someone trying to steal their savings.